The Blade Demon Roars
by Quazie89
Summary: All right, you guys asked for it so here it is: the sequel to my first Ghost Rider story,the Bone Driver.
1. Prologue: The Blade Demon is Born

PROLOGUE:

The Blade Demon Is Born

In the bowels of hell, Blackheart watched his father's face as it transformed from an expression of irritation to one of profound puzzlement.

Right then and there Blackheart knew that Mephistopheles had made a mistake and was trying to rectify it.

"He rode away. Again," the devil said, flatly, to his son, who stood as tall, dark, and arrogant as ever, never taking his eyes off the ruler of hell.

"Ghost Rider. Right. I'm not surprised," Blackheart said, with a sneer, not flinching when his father slammed the bottom of his skull-topped staff against the rough, molten rocks that made up the floor of his liar.

"Why are you here pestering me, anyway?" Mephistopheles snapped, shifting on his throne, clearly aggravated.

Relishing in seeing his father this way, Blackheart replied, calmly, "Well, father, I came down here to my cave this morning to find that my sword, my favorite one, mind you, was no longer hanging on its spot upon my wall. If you actually took the Bone Driver to earth –"

Mephistopheles interrupted his son, saying, "So what if I did take it to the Above? There's nothing you could do about it now…and what did you ever do with it?"

Blackheart's relatively pale face blushed a bright red. "I liked…looking at it," he muttered, sheepishly, ignoring the look of amusement that had came across his father's face. Furious with himself, Blackheart quickly added, "But that gave you no right to go robbing my room! That sword was cursed, after all. I stole it from an undead pirate back when I was still just a mere, foolish child. I was very fond of it…you didn't allow it to fall into some weak, mortal hands did you?"

Blackheart's face regained its original, pallid color as Mephistopheles erupted into raucous laughter.

"Oh, that's just rich! However, I didn't give it to no, meek mortal. I gave it to my Rider!" The old man said, mockingly, and Blackheart exploded.

"Damn you, father! Damn you! Why did you give my favorite toy to your worthless bounty hunter?" he cried, his dark-brown robes flapping about his legs as angry heat radiated off of him in waves. Mephistopheles chuckled.

"Your temper…might as well quench it… for I have a plan," he assured his son, who gradually began to regain control of his rage.

"What kind of plan?" the young, black-haired man asked.

Mephistopheles slowly rose from his throne, clutching at his staff for support. "I'm bringing forth one of my demons." He hobbled toward the back of the cave, where a pool of bubbling lava was located. The old man then planted his staff into the burning water.

Scoffing, Blackheart said, "If the Rider easily disposed of my Hidden he could just as simply destroy any demon you throw at him."

Mephistopheles, however, paid no heed to his son. Instead, the old man had started to chant, and almost instantly a tall, fiery shape began to form and rise out of the lava. Within minutes the devil had created another imposing foe thwart the Ghost Rider.

"Meet my Blade Demon," Mephistopheles introduced the creature to his son, who took a step back as the Blade Demon launched itself out of the lava, planting itself onto solid ground in order to stand devotedly before its master.

"An impressive beauty, don't you think?" Mephistopheles wanted to know, giving his son a triumph look before turning his gaze back upon the beast. When his father wasn't looking, Blackheart did the same, beholding the creature with fearful awe.

Indeed, the Blade Demon was a fascinating sight to witness but its beauty was terrifying. To Blackheart, who was seeing a tall, monstrous beast which possessed clawed feet along with a male face and body, it was nearly human. It would've passed for human, to, if it wasn't for the long, curving blade that extended out form its right shoulder and the freakishly long claws that grew form the beast's lengthily, left hand.

Its face, however, was barely human. This was because of the wolf-like snout that rested in between the Demon's shifty, beady eyes. As Blackheart stared at it, he could also make out the little dots of fur that traveled across the creature's face and up into its long, red hair, which framed its black and rotting face.

Blackheart, in his mind, agreed with his father. Indeed, the Blade Demon would prove to be a troublesome foe to the Ghost Rider but…would it be able to withstand the Rider's justice?

Blackheart, like his father, was eager to find out.


	2. ONE: The Promise

ONE:

The Promise

"Where did this thing come from?"

Johnny's question hung in the air as Roxanne struggled to get out from under him. They were laying on the curb of the road, where Roxanne spotted Grace, Johnny's Chopper, parked crookedly nearby. They had been thrown from the bike as Johnny had driven it past the cemetery, just moments before dawn had broke and Johnny had returned to being the man she had fallen in love with, banishing the vengeful spirit of the Ghost Rider from his being as he did so.

Hearing her distressed cries, Johnny awkwardly pushed himself off her back and helped her up.

"Oh…that awful thing." Roxanne eyed the enormous sword in Johnny Blaze's hand. Seeing it now, in the sunlight, it didn't look so threatening but Roxanne knew better. She knew that the weapon was bad news. She just didn't know how she was going to tell Johnny that.

Staring longingly at Roxanne, Johnny slowly approached her and wrapped his masculine arms about her waist. Then, she planted her mouth over his, exploring the inside of it with her tongue. She could hear the clank of the sword as Johnny let it drop to the ground.

"You shouldn't treat such a fine weapon so carelessly," a new, yet familiar voice advised, causing Roxanne and Johnny to pull away from each other. Carter Slade, an old man who wore a cowboy hat and a small white beard, approached them, supporting a shovel over one of his shoulders. Smiling, but not looking too surprised to see them, he painstakingly bent down and picked up the weapon.

"I've got a bone to pick with you." Johnny pointed a finger at his old mentor, who chuckled.

"I hope that that was just intended as a pun," He began to laugh.

A crooked smile broke across Johnny's face and Roxanne watched as the stunt cyclist stumbled up to Carter and embraced him in a friendly hug.

_Men, _she thought, grudgingly, but she was smiling along with them.

* * *

"I wouldn't trust that weapon," Carter warned Johnny as the young man sat in a small chair within a room that was part of the small shack that Carter called home. Johnny was running his fingers across the sword's blade and hilt, which was a bronze cross that was constructed of two bones that intersected each other.

"She sure is a beauty, though." Johnny turned the blade over and over in his hands. The previous night Mephistopheles had gifted him with the glorious weapon, which was why Roxanne wasn't about to put much faith into it.

She said, "Yeah, but remember who gave it to you."

Johnny raised his eyebrows at her. "You're the one that told me to go get it," he muttered. Roxanne sniffed angrily.

"What did you want me to do? I mean…you were gone all night and I didn't know what to do…" she trailed off, lowering her gaze as, getting up from the chair, Johnny placed the sword on top of its seat and cautiously approached her.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, gripping her shoulders with his big, gentle hands. Roxanne surrendered to him, allowing her head to fall into his broad chest. She could hear his heart pounding, it was thumping so hard!

She realized then that she did love him and that he loved her but…how far was he willing to take that love?

Taking a deep breath that caused a strand of her brown hair, (it had spilled across Johnny's stomach) to blow upward, she said, "I want you to quit doing the stunt shows."

Johnny's reaction was heartbreaking. He released her, giving her a hurt and betrayed look. He whispered, "Why?"

Sure of what she wanted, Roxanne replied, "Because you have a responsibility to keep and not just for me…or the two of us…but the whole city of San Vanganza!"

Johnny let out a long, drawn-out sigh and said, "I know that but…are you sure that's what you want?"

Roxanne nodded her head vigorously and Johnny patted it fondly. "If it'll make you happy…I promise…" he vowed.

Roxanne smiled. For the first time in years she felt truly happy and contempt.


	3. TWO: The Blade Demon Emerges

TWO:

The Blade Demon Emerges

The alleys of the city were dark and menacing, daring anybody to wonder into their tight, dark crevices, which promised terror and torture.

This was how Brent Gordon saw the city of San Vanganza, and he was right, in a way, to perceive the place as such a monstrosity for he was just a young man of thirteen. Still…even if you were young, you were capable of committing crimes, and young Brent had committed more gruesome crimes than the police officers could count.

Brent, however, felt guilty about none of it so we shouldn't feel sorry for what became of his body after the Blade Demon had discovered it.

Of course, Brent had been walking into an alley when it happened. He had sulked right by a manhole covering, not realizing that it was being pried open by a black and rotting, clawed hand.

Within moments the Blade Demon was on top the boy, sinking its fangs into the boy's neck and dinging its claws into the child's veins, bringing forth fountains of blood.

In a mere second the young man was dead. This had happened during pure daylight.

* * *

"So…where do you want to stop and eat?" Roxanne asked Johnny as he pulled Grace to a stop beside a gas station. There were a few vehicles there but Roxanne knew that they were enough people around to start a mob if anyone caught sight of Johnny Blaze stopping before a gas pump.

"Here will be fine," Johnny said, sliding off of Grace's seat and reaching for the pump just before starting to fill up the motorcycle. Roxanne almost thought that she could here it gulping the gas down as if it had a human mouth. It was so alive!

Telling herself that she was imagining things, Roxanne snorted and said, "You're so romantic," causing Johnny to smile at her retreating figure as she strolled into the gas station.

Later, when she and Johnny both had settled down to eat, they talked a little but just mostly watched the news on the TV, which hung above their heads, as they ate. Breakfast had been several hours ago, when they had been at the cemetery with Carter, and since neither of them hadn't ate, they were both famished.

Their food was completely forgotten, however, when the reporter on TV announced, "We report form you live in the city of San Vanganza, where the mauled body of a young boy was found brutally murdered early this morning. As of now, no one has claimed to know the identity of this boy or what could've killed him but…we do know that it wasn't human."

Johnny and Roxanne stared at each other, blankly, for a few seconds before Johnny uttered, "Let's go check out."

Leaving their food behind, the couple left and it was as if they had never been there in the first place.


	4. THREE: The Unforgiving Blade

THREE:

The Unforgiving Blade

By the time Johnny and Roxanne drove back into the city, it was approaching noon. Johnny could feel the beast inside him struggle to break free as night crawled upon them. Roxanne seemed to be sensing his restlessness.

"Take it easy, Johnny," she urged, smiling confidently at him under the helmet that Johnny had forced her to wear. Though she did have _his _helmet, Johnny would've rather her be protected than him if they ever had an accident.

"I'm fine," he breathed, quietly, easing the bike through the busy, congested streets as vehicles drove by them. The city was busy at this time of day since most people were just getting off from work and Johnny was grateful for the cover that the crowds gave them. He had do doubt in his mind that they would be needing lots of cover when ever the demon inside him found the monster who had murdered the boy.

It took them much longer to do this than Johnny suspected. By the time the sun was setting, they had driven through the city for hours and still hadn't found any evidence of the boy's murderer. Johnny was getting anxious.

"Drive back to the apartment," he urged Roxanne, who stubbornly puckered her bottom lip out at him from beneath the helmet.

"Why do I have to?" She narrowed her eyes at Johnny as he let himself drop from Grace's seat. Johnny gave her a serious look.

"You know why. Now take a cab and go back to the apartment," he ordered.

Roxanne leaped from the bike with a huff. "Fine. Just make sure that you kill the weirdo who murdered that boy." She walked up to him and planting a quick kiss on his cheek before storming off. Just slightly confused, Johnny took hold of Grace's handlebars and began to walk, maneuvering the bike through several alleys as he entered the darker world of the city.

"It's about time girl," he whispered. Grace acknowledged him with a little putter of her engine. She knew exactly what he was about to go through.

* * *

The Demon watched the man with the machine as he wheeled it into his domain. Curious as to why its privacy had been invaded, the Demon scaled down from the top of the building he had been perched on and slinked into the alley below him.

It was night. The Demon couldn't see well in the dark but he saw the red glow of Ghost Rider's flame perfectly as the fire-enshrouded skeleton took the place of Johnny Blaze's body.

Right away the Blade Demon knew that this was the target that his master had ordered him to hunt down. What he hadn't counted on, however, was the weapon that the Rider had removed from a sheath attached to his belt.

It was a flaming sword of death and the Rider wielded it with perfect ease. With a roar, the devil's bounty hunter swung it at the demon as it charged, causing evil flames to lash out at the creature as it attacked.

"Go back to hell!" the Rider cried, furious, as the Blade Demon thrust its sword arm at the Ghost Rider, who parried the demon's swing effortlessly with a brandishing of the Bone Driver, which cleaved the Blade Demon's most dangerous weapon as its flames melted it into.

With a despairing cry, the Blade Demon glanced down at what little was left of the shining weapon that had been its arm, saw that it was nothing but a little stump, and fled, leaving the Ghost Rider standing in the alley alone.

Yet, the night was still young and there were plenty more evil souls upon which he could unleash his Penance Stare.

* * *

Back in Johnny's apartment, Roxanne waited…and waited…and waited some more until it was approaching one a.m. Then, she decided to get up from the chair that stood in front of Johnny's TV (she had been watching the Discovery Channel, which was all Johnny watched when his cartoons weren't on) and decided to go to bed. She couldn't run to Carter every time Johnny ended up home late. It just wouldn't be a practical thing to do, especially since what Johnny did required him to be out during many hours of the night.

Sighing, and trying not to cry, she switched off all the lights in the apartment and retreated to Johnny's bedroom, praying for his safety.

* * *

Eight. That was the number of thugs that the Ghost Rider had taken out that night. Eight. The Ghost Rider remembered them all but Johnny himself was quickly forgetting the number of his victims as he stumbled into his dark, quiet, apartment.

"Roxanne?" he croaked, fumbling around the room until he had found the light switch and flipped it on. Roxanne was nowhere to be found. In fact, the only things that Johnny could see in the room were his many stunt bikes, which gleamed under the glow that the lights above him were emitting. Among all the cycles, his cluttered library of books was also visible. Still, there was no Roxanne.

Just a little bit concerned, he was about to sit down in his favorite chair and wait for Roxanne to show up, when, by chance, he glanced down and saw his hand. It was pure black.

He let out a horrified shout, raising his hand before his face, unable to believe what it had become. It was rotting. Not only was it black but it was rotting and starting to wither!

"Johnny! Is that you? Where have you been…oh my God!" Roxanne's voice traveled into the room and Johnny jumped, swirling around. There she was, her hand placed over her trembling mouth, her eyes widening at the sight of Johnny's twisted hand.

"I don't know what happened," he whispered, still holding his hand up as Roxanne walked up to him and inspected his hand. She had tears in her eyes.

"I know what it was! It was that awful sword!" Roxanne said, letting Johnny's injured fall, Feeling it twinge painfully, he clutched at it, staring at Roxanne fearfully. Her eyes were glistening and wet.

"We're going to Carter," she said. Johnny willingly agreed with her.

* * *

"You used it, didn't you? After using the Penance stare you used the sword to extract even more vengeance!" Carter said, darkly, holding Johnny's limp hand as he studied it.

Swallowing, Johnny closed his eyes, unable to glance down at his dying hand, and said, "Yes…but it wasn't me it…it was the Rider…I had no control…"

Carter shook a finger at him. "You _need _to have more control of that buddy inside of you, boy! I know what that sword does now. I should've known the first moment that I heard its name! For, after a person uses the Bone Driver to kill, it curses the hand that holds it, driving a poison through the hand's bones until the hand falls off! That was how the sword earned its name!"

Johnny shuddered.

"Is there anyway to stop it?" Roxanne asked, clutching Johnny's shoulder in a death grip. Carter sighed.

"Well I would suspect that you would have to destroy the sword itself but…I'm certain that will not be an easy task," he said. Johnny moaned.

"Great. So how much time do I have left?" he asked.

Carter shook his head. "Not much. I suggest that you pay a visit to Mephistopheles as soon as you get to." Roxanne squeezed Johnny's chest tightly.

"You're not going," he said to her, slowly rising from the chair. Roxanne sputtered at him.

"J-Johnny…why…" she began, unable to think of anything else to say as Johnny enfolded her in his arms.

"You're safer with Carter," he said and, quickly kissing her, left the shack.

Once again she felt alone.


	5. FOUR: Removing the Demon

FOUR:

Removing the Demon

Mephistopheles sighed. He watched as his once great creation groveled at his feet, whining and begging for mercy as it cradled its severed blade to its chest.

"It is approaching night time, father. I must travel Above and hunt," Blackheart said, and Mephistopheles glared at his son.

"So be it," he grumbled, never taking his eyes off the pathetic, babbling creature cowering before him. It was wretched! He should kill it now while he had nothing else better to do!

Lost in his musings, he hadn't noticed that his son had already left and that night was fast upon him. Soon the Rider would be confronting him, and Mephistopheles suspected nothing.

* * *

The Hellcycle blazed through the city streets, the Ghost Rider sitting astride it as the possessed bike roared through the traffic and into the back alleys of San Vanganza. Once there, it found the perfect manhole covering and allowed Ghost Rider to swing it open with his fiery whip before descending down into the gloomy depths of the sewers.

After traveling along the many twists and turns of the sewers, the Hellcycle sped downward through a hole covering in a wall, entering the fiery realm of hell. Upon the Ghost Rider's impressive entrance, Mephistopheles glanced up from his helpless demon, snarling.

"You got a lot of guts to come back here," he said.

The Ghost Rider leaped from the Hellcycle, which wheeled away from them to the back of the cave in order to watch the show.

"I've got a lot more than guts!" The Rider roared, whipping out his fiery, steel-linked whip to challenge the devil, who readied his staff for battle.

"If you want it that way…Demon, attack him!" the old man ordered his monster, which slowly rose up from the floor and advanced upon the Ghost Rider, who was quick to block the Demon's attack as it threw itself at him.

For hours the Demon and Rider fought this way, blocking each other's attacks until they were both pressed against the wall of the cave, were the Rider was nearly stepping into the fiery pool of lava in which the demon had been created.

"Finish him! Finish him now!" Mephistopheles urged his demon. As the devil spoke, the Ghost Rider glanced down at the Bone Driver, which was in its sheath, and then at the burning pool of water, smiling a toothy smile as an idea formed in his mind.

He knew how to destroy the sword!

With a cry of triumph, the Rider forced the Demon off his body and slid the weapon out of its sheath, tossing it into the scorching, bubbling lava behind him. Mephistopheles let out a frantic cry that the Ghost Rider could barely hear over the explosive booms that were tearing the Bone Driver apart in the lava.

Ignoring the devil's screams, the Ghost Rider then took hold of the Blade Demon with his bony fingers and. gripping both of the creature's arms, flung it into the lava, where the Bone Driver had already been destroyed.

"NO!" Mephistopheles cried.

The Ghost Rider boomed with laughter. Sensing its master's joy, the Hellcycle rode up to the bounty hunter and urged the Rider to get on. Obliging his steed's request, the Rider did so, but not until he had rubbed his victory in the devil's face a little by jeering mechanically at him.

_Blackheart's never going to let me forget this,_ Mephistopheles thought, regrettably, as soon as the Rider and the bike were both gone. He was never going to have peace again. The Ghost Rider had made sure of that.


	6. FIVE: Sweet Victory

FIVE:

Sweet Victory

Dawn arrived and once again Johnny found himself speeding down the highway, steering Grace along it until he came to a stop before Carter's cemetery. Once he was there, he leaped off the bike and stumbled into the caretaker's shack, not noticing his hand until he had stepped inside the small building.

It was slowly loosing the blackness that had made it so grotesque and Roxanne noticed it. With a gleeful cry, she leaped out of nowhere and embraced him, shouting, "You did it! I knew you would! I told Carter that you would do it!"

Overwhelmed by her faith in him, Johnny wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close for a kiss. Just as he did, Carter crept into the room, beaming.

"So, how did you do it?" the old caretaker asked.

Johnny told him.

* * *

Later that day, Blackheart returned to his father's liar and threw a temper tantrum that drove his father through the roof.

"My sword?! The Rider destroyed it? And not only that but…he finished off your demon, to? Your pathetic, old man!" the devil's son scolded his father, who was just as furious as he was.

"I didn't ask for that to happen! Besides, it was your fault! If you were here you could've …helped things!" the old man snapped, indignantly, as Blackheart sneered at him.

"Why would I want to help you, you helpless old bat?" the prince of darkness scoffed just before turning his back on his father as the Ghost Rider had done not too long ago.

Seething, Mephistopheles watched his son go, weaving another plan to foil the Ghost Rider.

* * *

That night, as Roxanne and Johnny lay together on the floor of Johnny's apartment, both of them quiet naked, Johnny said, "You know, I could get used to this."

Roxanne laughed, "I hope so, for your sake." She ran her slender fingers down his chest and causing him to shudder. If that wasn't enough, she then planted herself on top of him and began to stroke every part of his skin.

Beneath her, Johnny smiled.

THE END


End file.
